Priest blessed salt and oil using a different prayer - is it still effective?

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Hi all,

Whilst on pilgrimage, a priest exorcised and blessed olive oil and salt for the pilgrims. He said it was very effective in driving out demons and protection from evil. You could put it into the food of others. I had no olive oil or salt with me at the time. He said that a priest at home should be able to bless the items when.
I went to a priest at home who happily agreed. I printed out the exorcism/blessing prayers for him but he blessed the items using his own prayers. No casting out was done. I’m wondering if the oil/salt are just as powerful or should I get it exorcised by another priest?

Thank you
 
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A friend of mine sprinkled blessed salt on an area of her house where there was an ant infestation. It permanently cleared it up overnight (according to her).
The priest seemed extremely well versed, educated and sincere. He said if anyone’s behaviour had changed drastically for no apparent reason, a little olive oil in their food may help. It’s worth a shot.
 
MasterHaster said:
Olive oil and salt have no power especially a specific power like “driving out demons and protection from evil”. This seems to me superstitious thinking not based on Christianity.
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Many Catholics nowadays, especially traditionalist Catholics, disagree with you. Fr. Z has been known to specially bless a lot of blessed salt which is distributed at Rosary rallies and such. It’s fine if you don’t want to use it, but it’s a recognized practice, and many Catholics are also trying to connect more to the supernatural aspects of Catholicism that they feel have been shoved aside in the post-Vatican II world with just the sort of remark that you just made.

It’s pretty normal to use some blessed salt or some holy water around your house for protection, not in a superstitious way but coupled with faith in God to protect you. And there is nothing wrong with doing so as long as you have the underlying faith in God.

In addition, the person is specifically asking about blessing prayers here, so if you don’t subscribe to the whole practice you’re technically off topic by saying you think the whole thing is bunk.
 
MasterHaster said:
To me this seems a textbook example of superstition. “A little olive oil may help”. Why olive oil? Why not canola oil? What is any of this based on?
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This is your second post that is off-topic. Please stop derailing the thread. If you have a question about this whole practice it might be better to start your own thread.

Here is a discussion of the practice involving salt and water from Fr Heilman. Note that there is the modern short blessing and the old Roman Ritual exorcism blessing. I’m sure the practice for oil is not much different. Once blessed, the items are sacramentals to be used in your home as you would use other sacramentals. If you need to read up on sacramentals, there are sections in the Catechism on them.

 
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Lookingforanswers1 said:
I went to a priest at home who happily agreed. I printed out the exorcism/blessing prayers for him but he blessed the items using his own prayers. No casting out was done. I’m wondering if the oil/salt are just as powerful or should I get it exorcised by another priest?
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My opinion is that the blessing done by your priest at home was probably fine. The benefits of this practice stem primarily from the underlying faith in God and not from using super special magic blessing words.

Having said that, I am aware of some traditionalists who would like the special, traditional lengthy exorcism and blessing. For example, when Fr. Z blesses salt to be distributed to pilgrims, he uses a long traditional exorcism and blessing ritual that is probably the same as what your pilgrimage priest used. This is different from the modern blessing ritual which can be different and much shorter.

If you are trying to get the exact same old school blessing ritual, I would recommend that you take a different batch of olive oil and salt to a traditionalist priest and explain to him. DO NOT take the olive oil and salt that your priest already blessed because, while he may not have used the blessing ritual you want, it is already blessed and cannot/ should not be blessed again.
 
I have added a link to my post above that I hope answers your question. The fact is that you have made three posts not responding to the OP’s original question but simply questioning their practice, which is an established Catholic practice. I have pointed this out to you politely instead of flagging your posts as off topic.

It is a bit frustrating when someone asks a question about an established Catholic practice on here and someone else pretty much insults their post calling it “superstition”. You have also done this on other threads. You seem to think a lot of things are superstition when they are normal things that Catholics, especially trad Catholics, do. Please respect legitimate traditional practices and allow others to ask questions about them without derailing their threads.
 
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I know someone who was very happy with the holy water that her priest blessed. “He even used the exorcism prayer, not just the quick blessing that Fr. So-and-So used!” she said. In other words, he was making exorcised holy water.

The prayer I usually have someone say over my salt is an exorcised prayer as well— I just hand them the missal and point to the prayer and say, “Would you please do this for me–”
I exorcize thee, created element of salt, by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by God who by the hand of Eliseus the prophet mingled thee with water in order that the barrenness thereof might be healed; that thou mayest be made salt from which the evil spirit hath been cast forth for the health of the faithful, and mayest bring to all who partake of thee health of soul and body; and that there may be banished from the place in which thou shalt be sprinkled, every kind of hallucination and wickedness, or craft of devilish deceit, and every unclean spirit, in the name of Him Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. R. Amen.
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But other priests are in the habit of using this prayer—
“Almighty God, we ask you to bless this salt, as once you blessed the salt scattered over the water by the prophet Elisha. Wherever this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the power of evil, and protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen”
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And still other priests might just make the sign of the cross over it and give a generic blessing.

So perhaps it was something like that? There are different prayers, and all of them are valid, but perhaps it’s a matter of what they’re familiar with.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Yeah, ants aren’t evil anyway. They are just ants. Not demons.
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Tell that to my wife! We’re going nuts with carpenter ants at the moment. Myself, I find them kind of fascinating.

Luckily I think I found the source, some 4x4 treated wood garden edging that had rotted. Turned over one of the sections and it was teeming with ants. I dug it up and got rid of it and the problem has now greatly diminished, only the odd straggler from time to time. AFAIK none has made a satellite nest in the carpentry.
 
MasterHaster said:
To me this seems a textbook example of superstition. “A little olive oil may help”. Why olive oil? Why not canola oil? What is any of this based on?
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The same applies to the use of certain precise words. Catholics don’t believe in magic spells or alchemical formulae.
 
Using salt in this manner goes right back to the Old Testament. Ours is a sacramental Faith. God became matter. God as a physical man died and rose. Christ used mud and other physical elements to heal. God works through his physical creation.
 
Blessed salt used to be part of the Rite of Baptism as well as the blessing of water although I’m not sure that any specific formula needs to be used for blessing salt or anything else for that matter. Granted for blessing most things there are specific / pre-prepared prayers in the Book of Blessings (and other publications) but every now and then adaptations are required (I was once asked to bless a motorbike and, as there was no specific prayer provided, ended up using a hybrid of the blessings for motor vehicles and bikes). I wouldn’t have thought though that this would affect the sanctification in anyway.

As for olive oil, there’s an interesting backstory to the Church’s use of olive oil having a lot to do with its particular properties and patristic traditions linking Christ to the olive. Admittedly, these days some of these practices can seem like superstition but IMHO there’s value in them provided that the purpose and meaning behind them is properly explained and understood.
 
@midori Yes, the prayer you copied and pasted was the one I wanted the priest to bless my good with -

I exorcize thee, created element of salt, by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy + God, by God who by the hand of Eliseus the prophet mingled thee with water in order that the barrenness thereof might be healed; that thou mayest be made salt from which the evil spirit hath been cast forth for the health of the faithful, and mayest bring to all who partake of thee health of soul and body; and that there may be banished from the place in which thou shalt be sprinkled, every kind of hallucination and wickedness, or craft of devilish deceit, and every unclean spirit, in the name of Him Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. R. Amen.

Not to worry. I am happy with the blessing I got none the less! Thanks for your reply.

@(name removed by moderator) Try buying a big load of salt and sprinkling it everywhere. You never know! I would be the type to get the salt blessed beforehand, but that’s just me!

@CRV Yes, CRV. There is a specific importance to olive oil. The priest on my pilgrimage refused to bless omega fish oil for a lady!!! He found it amusing that she had brought it at all. He said he couldn’t bless it!

@twf Using salt does go back to the Old Testament. Salt was used to preserve food and prevent it from turning rotten. Salt came to be valued spiritually as it was seen to preserve the soul and protect it from evil and rot.

@InThePew Thank you for that explanation!
 
Tis_Bearself said:
My opinion is that the blessing done by your priest at home was probably fine. The benefits of this practice stem primarily from the underlying faith in God and not from using super special magic blessing words.

Having said that, I am aware of some traditionalists who would like the special, traditional lengthy exorcism and blessing. For example, when Fr. Z blesses salt to be distributed to pilgrims, he uses a long traditional exorcism and blessing ritual that is probably the same as what your pilgrimage priest used. This is different from the modern blessing ritual which can be different and much shorter.

If you are trying to get the exact same old school blessing ritual, I would recommend that you take a different batch of olive oil and salt to a traditionalist priest and explain to him. DO NOT take the olive oil and salt that your priest already blessed because, while he may not have used the blessing ritual you want, it is already blessed and cannot/ should not be blessed again.
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@Tis_Bearself Thank you Tis_Bearself. I am more than happy to use the oil and salt that I got.
Yes, the priest on pilgrimage used a lengthy prayer in which he exorcised the salt and oil. I will keep the oil and salt that is blessed and sometime in the future I will buy more and hae them separately blessed.
I must say though, I loved using my blessed salt and oil in my cooking. My non-believing family members have no issue with it either!

@Tis_Bearself Many thanks for the info and explanations on this site Tis_Bearself. You have always been extremely kind and helpful whenever I have posted a question.
 
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